The Pittsburgh Steelers' defensive stand vs. Cincinnati, born in a November postgame circle

CINCINNATI -- Every portion of the Pittsburgh Steelers defense was represented in the postgame circle in front of Cameron Heyward's locker.

To the defensive lineman's left stood inside linebacker Ryan Shazier. To his left, outside linebackers Jarvis Jones and Bud Dupree. The circle was closed by the secondary in veteran safety Will Allen, who brought them together.

They were victorious, having won on a Chris Boswell field goal in the final seconds. But they were unhappy with themselves.

It was Nov. 8 and the Steelers were less than an hour removed from getting to 5-4 with a 38-35 win against the Oakland Raiders in a game where the defense was shredded, only to be bailed out by a 57-yard catch-and-run from Landry Jones to Antonio Brown.

What was said in that meeting, though, enabled the injured Ben Roethlisberger-led comeback and Bengals implosion that ended in an 18-16 win over Cincinnati in the AFC Wild Card and put the Steelers in a Jan. 17 divisional-round game against the Denver Broncos.

In November though, they spoke longingly of communication and focus, which at the time sounded like excuses for a deadweight defense that had just blown a 14-point lead. But following a playoff game decided by a designed forced fumble with 1:23 to play and Bengals meltdown one minute and 60 yards later, their two-month-old words rang truer than ever.

"I remember it all," Heyward said Saturday night. "We were very fortunate to win that game."

In the days before the Steelers' narrow November win, the Pittsburgh defense had been too quiet on the practice field, Dupree said. They were too quiet at Heinz Field, too.

Teammates either weren't talking to each other enough or didn't understand what they were supposed to do when they did hear from each other. The Steelers defense got lost on its own field and embarrassed by a quarterback that would finish the season in the top 10 in interceptions, in an offense that would rank 24th overall in the league on a team that ended the year three games out of the playoffs.

"Sometimes people don't know what to do," Dupree said three days after the Oakland game.

The Raiders called just four run plays, Allen said, and gouged Pittsburgh for 159 rushing yards while blowing assignment after assignment against the pass.

It was one of the lowest points of the campaign for a Steelers defense that's only been asked to give the team's offense a chance.

"We're not detailed enough to go where we want to go and we got to turn it around now," Allen said post-Oakland. "Hopefully this is a wakeup call for us."

Halfway through the season the unit proved too young too often for its own liking.

But when that postgame defensive huddle broke, a crescendo began.

"When you don't have that execution, it hurts," Heyward said. "It messes our team up. You can't do that. And I thought we really took a step that week."

The noise continued to grow.

Mike Tomlin praised his defense for constantly talking in the frantic final minutes of their Dec. 20 win over the Denver Broncos. On Saturday, they silenced what Tomlin called the "two-headed monster" that is Bengals running backs Giovani Bernard and Jeremy Hill, holding them to 78 yards from 18 carries.

When Pittsburgh was beaten in the air downfield, it was because McCarron had tossed the ball between inevitable seams in the coverage.

In Cincinnati there was none of the helpless staring downfield that Mike Mitchell did when the Raiders tied the Steelers in November. When A.J. Green scored the go-ahead touchdown Saturday, Mitchell was there. The receiver just broke his tackle.

On the sideline, William Gay insisted that the defense could not and should not change.

It took the field at its own 20 with 1:36 remaining, needing a stop, desperately wanting a turnover and knowing how to get it.

The Steelers defense would run-blitz the middle and try to stand up Hill while ripping at the ball in the same way Mitchell said the unit begins every practice.

Pittsburgh's front did stand up Hill, Shazier did knock the ball out of his hands and fellow second-year player Ross Cockrell came up with it on the 9. There, the aims of the impromptu Nov. 8 council meeting were achieved.

"I can't really tell you about what was discussed," Shazier said, "but I know that we did what we talked about and we left no doubt today."